Chance Encounters
by Pensulliwen
Summary: “You’ll be the perfect bride for the Shaman King.” “Of course I will. Yoh is my fiancé; by the end of this tournament he will be the Shaman King, and my husband." “What if he doesn’t win? What if I kill him first?” “Then I will destroy you.”
1. Journey

**Spoilers:** Through about 110

**Rating:** Just for breif but naughty language.

* * *

**Chance Encounters**

**By Allegra**

Patch Village was really quite beautiful, if one stopped a moment to take in their surroundings. Bellow the mountain range and forest ringing it, tufts of spider grass shot out of the ground in an overgrown field, tickling the shins of passerbys. A scraggly tree stuck up here and there, devoid of any leaves but still alive; despite the poor quality of the soil, they toiled on, attempting to reclaim the grassland in the name of the forest. The sun beat down upon it all with a steady blaze, as small butterflies with plain wings flitted about; simple, but beautiful none the less.

Anna scowled. Yoh was going to pay for making her come all this way.

Envisioning extra miles, weights and push-ups to add to his training regiment, the itako followed a dirt path through the countryside and towards where Yoh and his friends (who should have been enemies) were staying. However, after several minutes of walking, she began to feel uneasy. Pausing her step, Anna stood rigidly for a moment before turning her head to throw an accusing glare over her shoulder.

"You're not fooling anyone, get your ass out here." She called into the seemingly empty field. One moment there was no movement but the wind rustling through the long grass, the next a cloaked figure with long, dark brown hair emerged a few yards away from her.

"Just how long did you plan on following me?" Anna growled in a lower tone.

"Not long, I simply wasn't sure how to approach you after our last encounter." The man said unabashedly. Hao looked at her appraisingly, while Anna refused to face him directly, opting instead to turn half-way and gaze ahead. "How did you know?"

"You're not hard to sense." She muttered, though both knew that it was a lie. She heard a breathy chuckle beside her.

"You're really something, Anna." Hao stated, smiling.

Anna frowned slightly, disliking the way he used her first name so casually and hating the way he looked so much like Yoh when he smiled, but maintained her air of apathy as he continued.

"You'll be the perfect bride for the Shaman King."

"Of course I will." She snapped, having heard this dialogue before and currently lacking the patience for flattery. "Yoh is my fiancé. By the end of this tournament he will be the Shaman King, and my husband. Now what do you want?"

"What if he doesn't win?" Hao questioned, ignoring her inquiry. "What if I kill him first?"

Anna turned to face him for the first time, glaring directly into his eyes.

"Then I will destroy you." She threatened with enough malice in her voice to convince Hao that she would do just that, or at least try to. He smiled in return.

"But you're bluffing." Anna continued, turning away from him again and resuming her indifferent manner. "You won't kill Yoh."

"That was quite a reaction for a simple bluff." Hao said, infuriating smile still in place. His eyes slid open to focus on her as the smile morphed into a smirk, which was a relief in some ways, because Yoh would never make a face like that. Of course no matter how similar they looked, it was never difficult to tell them apart; their presences were night and day. Even if Hao cut his hair and spiked it back in Yoh's trademark style, no one could ever copy the little nuances of Yoh's persona perfectly enough to fool Anna. Still, sometimes the striking similarity made her uncomfortable, despite her best attempts to ignore it.

"You must really love him." Startled out of her reverie, Anna looked at Hao as if he was the most idiotic being on the face of the planet.

"Of course I do." She stated contemptuously. "Have I ever made any attempt to keep that a secret? Yoh is hardly a connection to be taken advantage of."

"I would never seek to use such a connection against you." Hao said as he walked closer to her, with enough sincerity in his voice to make Anna wonder whether or not he was lying. "I'm simply curious about you, Anna. You can't imagine how frustrating it is to not know what you're thinking." His eyes were smoldering when she met them, as if she could feel him attempting to bore into her mind. Anna straightened up to stand a little taller reflexively, and scowled when Hao smiled, knowing that he'd noticed.

"I can, actually." She said matter-of-factly, taking a step back while still facing him. "You'll get used to it."

"But I still haven't. Every time I see you, you become more of a mystery; I glimpse just enough of your power to make me wonder all the more urgently what you're hiding, and all the while your thoughts remain silent. It's quite infuriating, really." Anna noted coldly that he didn't look infuriated, though he did seem urgent, and her brow wrinkled in irritation as he edged closer again. She took a step back to restore their former proximity, but Hao grabbed her wrist and took an audacious step forward.

"Just what are you, Anna?"

Anna's only response was to bring back her free hand and slap him across the face. A resounding 'SMACK!' rang throughout the field as Hao released her and brought his hand to his face good-humoredly, tenderly touching the reddened skin.

"You surprised me the first time you did that, I didn't think that I would give you the opportunity to do so again." Rubbing his cheek, he sighed. "Curiosity got the better of me."

"You have no need to know what I am." Anna stated, crossing her arms and looking past him. "Unless you wish to continue our last battle, I have no reason to show another hint of my power to you, and we have no reason to fight."

"No, I don't want to fight you." Hao agreed. "Though there are plenty of reasons that we could."

Anna 'hm'ed noncommittally, and smiled slightly when Hao's mouth ticked down in a frown at her refusal to continue.

"I am Yoh's fiercest competition, after all, though I wouldn't consider him competition at this point; which is all the more reason for you to want to take me out for him. Once I've become Shaman King, I'll either kill or absorb him. Plus I sometimes get the feeling that you don't like me very much, which is a shame."

"Tch." Anna rolled her eyes slightly.

"So really," Hao continued, smiling. "we have lots of reasons to fight."

"I thought you didn't want to battle?" Anna challenged.

"Of course not, I like you very much; I wouldn't want to hurt you. Merely… test you, I suppose. Though that might be impossible, given both of our powers, I'd like to learn more about you."

"No. Why did you come here?" Anna demanded abruptly.

"To talk." Hao stated amiably. "As I said, you will be the perfect bride for the Shaman King, so you should get used to my presence. Otherwise we'll have quite an awkward honeymoon."

Only the fact that Hao would probably catch her hand kept Anna from decking him. Clenching her fist, she growled "I am engaged to Yoh."

"You're engaged to the future Shaman King, from what you've said." Hao corrected, continuing before she could cut in. "What gives you such confidence in Yoh? He's very strong, but he's not the strongest. He's improving quickly, but not quickly enough; as things are, you are far stronger than him. You're the only person to have ever injured me as grievously as you did in our last match; you have more than proved yourself worthy of being the bride of the Shaman King. But what gives you such faith in _him_?"

Anna was silent for a long moment. Finally she replied "I don't need to explain that to you."

"You love him, yes, but surely that can't be your only reason." Hao pressed.

"Yoh is going to be Shaman King." Anna stated, turning away from him. "It's that simple. If he's not strong enough yet, I'll make him stronger, until he's able to achieve his dream. If that's all you came here to find out, then leave."

Hao stared at her, perplexed, before shrugging and turning to leave.

"We'll talk again some other time." He stated, before engaging his oversoul and leaping into the air. Anna scowled at the empty space in front of her as she felt the wind from his takeoff ruffle her hair.

"Flashy." She stated to no one in particular. She turned to glance at his retreating form, making sure that he was really leaving, before continuing on.

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_AN: I wasn't quite sure where I was going with this. I just knew I wanted to write a Yoh+Anna fic. Somehow that started with this, because Hao is pretty cool, in that he allows Anna to show her awesome even more than usual. Chapters 106 and 162+ of the manga show this quite well, and were where most of the inspiration for this chapter came from. Check that out for good ol' Anna-beating-the-shit-out-of-Hao action, if you haven't. Or even if you have. It is worth reading several times, and basking in its literal ball-kicking glory (it is now up to Yoh to carry on the Asakura line)._

_I'm sorry, it's one a.m., I'll try to be more coherant later. Please review!_


	2. Arrival

**Chance Encounters**

**Chapter 2: Arrival**

Yoh shuddered violently

"You alright, Yoh?" Horohoro asked. "You've been shivering all morning."

"Pft, he's just scared because his fiancé's visiting today," Ren answered for him. "Stop sniveling and show some honor, will you?" he asked condescendingly. Yoh whimpered.

"But, she's late! Just think about all of the extra push-ups and laps she must be adding to make up for lost time!" he exclaimed, terrified. "WHAT IF SHE BLAMES ME FOR BEING LATE?!"

"You know, she didn't actually mention any training, maybe she just wanted to see you," Lyserg offered hopefully. The others shook their heads at his naivety. Yoh looked unconvinced.

"Besides, weren't you the one that invited her?"

"… Sort of. It's a long story."

"Gotta say Boss, you brought this one on yourself." Ryu stated, patting him on the back condolingly. Yoh sniffled.

"Hey, I think that's her," Horohoro warned, pointing to a figure in the distance.

"Well, good luck Boss."

"I have faith in you."

"Try not to die."

"See ya."

"Wait- wait!" Yoh turned to see his comrades disappearing inside their lodgings. With an audible gulp, he turned back to the dirt road and shuffled out to greet her.

* * *

"H-hey, Anna," Yoh said nervously as she approached him.

"Hm. That was a very long walk." She stated, placing her hand on her hip and glaring him down. Yoh grinned nervously.

"Sorry?"

"I hope you had a good reason for calling me here, I ran into an unpleasant acquaintance on the way here."

"Oh, is that why you were late?" Yoh asked, curious as to who it was.

"Yes."

An awkward silence fell over them as Yoh fidgeted. Anna frowned.

"Well, why did you want me to come?"

"It was your idea."

"No it wasn't. You invited me."

"But I thought you wanted me to."

"Why would I? This shack is in the middle of nowhere."

"Well," Yoh struggled for words for a moment. "It's been a while since we were together, so I thought you might want— you were giving me a look! You definitely wanted me to ask you to come!" Judging by Anna's twitching eyebrow, she was not impressed by his reasoning.

"So you asked me to come here for… a date?"

"Something like that, I guess."

"In the middle of the tournament."

"We've got the day off."

"Well then," Anna turned to leave. "You should be training." Yoh's shoulders fell as she began walking. She stopped after a few paces, and Yoh wondered what awful punishment she had concocted.

"Well, come on," Anna beckoned. Yoh blinked, confused. She sighed exasperatedly. "I'm not eating in this run down excuse for an inn, take me somewhere nice," she ordered, continuing on. Yoh ran to catch up with her.

* * *

"So who was it that you ran into?" Yoh asked after a lengthy walk in silence. Neither commented on the fact that their fingers seemed to have entwined at some point, and they were walking hand in hand.

"Hao," Anna stated shortly. Their arms bumped together as Yoh missed a step, before straightening himself. He cast a searching eye over her, looking for any injuries, before looking back ahead.

"What did he want?"

"To talk. You both seem to love wasting my time," she accused without any venom, and Yoh's mouth twitched in a small smile.

"Did he say anything interesting?"

"Not really." Anna readjusted her hand slightly. It was a hot, humid day and their joined palms were quickly becoming sweaty, but neither one seemed to mind enough to retract their hands. "He's bothered that he can't read my mind, and decided to throw a tantrum."

"That would be something to see," Yoh said with an easy smile. "I'm sure you put him in his place." Anna let a small smile slip onto her face.

"Of course."

As they continued walking, Yoh's smile faded. He looked troubled, but Anna didn't say anything. A less comfortable silence than before settled over them.

"Anna, he didn't- you just talked?"

"Yes," she replied. "I slapped him around a bit, but it didn't evolve into a fight. Why?"

"I just… I guess I don't like his interest in you. It makes me a little nervous."

"Don't be ridiculous, you're the one he's interested in. I would have dealt with him before this if you weren't so obsessed with helping him." Yoh's smile returned, though it didn't reach his eyes.

"Well, he is my brother."

"Technically." Anna agreed.

"And no one on the island is really a bad person, since they see spirits."

"Obviously."

"So we've got to help him," Yoh concluded, nodding decisively. Anna sighed, glancing away from him.

"That outlook's going to get you killed, Yoh."

"It'll all work out," he assured her, squeezing her hand. Anna grumbled, clearly unconvinced, but squeezed his hand in return.

She couldn't help but think back to her conversation with Hao. They were just so different. Perhaps what Anna hated more than Hao himself was the fact that she was far more like him than she wanted to admit. She was just as different from Yoh as Hao was.

"Well, you've still got a long way to go. You'll have to do a hundred laps when we get back."

"Anna," Yoh whined pleadingly. She smiled.

"More, if you eat a lot."

Her feelings for both Asakura's were complex in their own rights, but while things with Yoh seemed to have become simpler over the years, her feelings towards Hao only became more muddled. There was a sort of attraction, underlying everything else; they shared a common past, and a lust for power that drew them together. He was confused by her, she knew him all to well. But stronger than hate or love, she pitied him. Every time they met, that sentiment grew stronger. And she hated him for making her pity someone so similar to herself.

"Alright, where do you want to go?" Yoh asked as they arrived at a small square of shops. Wordlessly, they dropped their hands.

"You pick," Anna ordered. Yoh gave her a surprised glance. "They're all Patch run anyway, there's no difference."

"Alright. I've been here before, it's pretty nice," he said, leading the way into a small restaurant. They were swiftly seated at a booth by a window facing the other shops, and Anna quickly lost herself in the people passing by, thinking about how much she used to hate them.

She loved Yoh. There was never any uncertainty in Anna's mind over who she would spend her life with, regardless of what happened in the tournament. She would follow him into Hell if she had to, as he had done for her. No one would ever be able to understand her the way Yoh did, and she was immensely glad of that; Anna didn't think she would be able to stand anyone else knowing her so well. No one but Yoh.

"Are you alright?" Yoh asked. Anna looked up in time to see him retracting his hand, apparently having reached for her on impulse.

Neither one of them had ever explicitly stated that they would never indulge in public displays of affection; it just seemed to be an unspoken rule. She was an intensely private person, and in some ways, Yoh was too. It had taken long enough for them to become comfortable looking each other in the eye when they participated in any non-platonic activities; doing so in front of others seemed like a wordless taboo. If his friends thought her an unfeeling bitch for it, well then what of it? He understood that she loved him, as she understood the he loved her. No one else mattered.

"Fine," she answered shortly. Yoh scrutinized her, and Anna frowned, because he knew she did not like it when he did that. "I'm just thinking," she snapped.

"What about?" he asked innocently. Her eyes narrowed.

"You sound like Hao. If I wanted you to know, I would tell you." Yoh looked only slightly taken aback at the comment. Anna quickly looked away. Sometimes the way he just accepted all of her abuse made her feel guilty; but only very, very occasionally. He simply understood that she didn't mean it. Or so she told herself.

"He said some things, is all. He seems obsessed with finding out who I really am," Anna said grudgingly.

"You're Anna," Yoh stated with a smile. "What else is there to tell?"

Anna rolled her eyes, looking around the shop and frowning. There weren't many people, but it was hardly deserted. Still— they weren't looking. With quick precision, Anna turned back to Yoh, grabbed the front of his shirt, and leaned across the table to pull him into a kiss. She closed her eyes to a clearly shocked Yoh, enjoying the kiss for a moment before pulling back. He fell back into his booth with a thump as Anna tucked a wayward lock of hair behind her ear.

Yoh gaped at her, taken aback. Despite Anna clearly wearing the pants in their relationship, Yoh was generally the one who initiated any kisses or— other, activities. And in a restaurant!

"You certainly have a way of simplifying things," Anna stated, eyes trained on her lap.

"Uh, yeah," Yoh floundered, blushing. Anna smiled.

"It can be a good thing."

* * *

_AN: Some people seemed to think that this was going to be a HaoXAnna story. Understandable, since it starts out with them— except I expressly stated in my previous author's note that it was going to end this way. So… I don't feel too badly, all in all. Thanks for tuning in._

_Edit: Alright, in case that wasn't clear enough, this story is OVER. It is labeled as complete for a reason. Sorry that some people seem to expect more, but I've written all that I wanted to._


End file.
